The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
San Diego
UAB Falls In Final Game Of UC Irvine Tournament
9/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 2, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- San Diego, ranked No. 24 in the nation, got a game-winning goal from Matt McCausland in the 85th minute to pull out a 2-1 upset victory over No. 15 UAB (0-1-1) here Monday in the final game of the UC Irvine Tournament. The Torero's finished 2-0 in the tournament to claim the tournament title.
"We played a horrible first half and only played well for about 20-25 minutes throughout the entire game," head coach Mike Getman said. "When you play like we did against good teams, you are not going to win many games. I was very disappointed in our effort tonight."
After a scoreless first half, UAB struck first when Jose Rayo headed in a pass to beat San Diego goalkeeper Matt Kessler at the 47:01 mark for a 1-0 lead. The Torero's would answer back in the 71st minute when Alex Romagnolo finished a pass from Aaron Tubbs to even things up at one apiece.
The momentum stayed in favor of San Diego when a red card was issued to UAB's Marin Pusek at the 71:44 mark. USD was able to take control of the match with the one-man advantage when McCausland scored the game-winner from the left side of the box.
The Blazers were outshot 17-2 during the game and did not have a single corner kick in the match compared to 11 for San Diego.
UAB will next host the Nike Classic, September 6-8, on West Campus Field. UAB will open against crosstown rival Birmingham Southern on Friday, September 6, at 8 p.m. The Blazers will then face Rhode Island - a team which made the NCAA Tournament in 2001 - on Sunday, September 8 at 2 p.m. Also competing in the weekend tournament will be C-USA rival Charlotte.
